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Topic: Top 30 Symphonies (Read 22101 times)

What a bizarre and useless list...but what else would one expect from a radio station whose listeners (likely) think that Beethoven's 5th is a pretty song.

The lack of Sibelius immediately invalidates the list for me, as I believe him to be the greatest symphonists of the 20th century. Yet Saint-Saens's Organ Symphony is included, albeit at number 30? Please...Sibelius's weakest tone poems (if there is such a thing!) are probably greater than ANYTHING in Saint-Saens, that Organ Symphony included.

Symphonies on the old list which no longer appear on the new one: Atterberg's Third, Kalliwoda's Fifth, Mendelssohn's Fourth, Mahler's First. The Kalliwoda was the hardest to cut, actually. I cut the Mahler because I decided to stop pretending like I know anything about Mahler, which I don't (also, Haydn). One big loser I regret is Shosty's Ninth, which I love to pieces but which I realized probably doesn't slot ahead of Berlioz or Beethoven IV. The big winners in the 11 months which have passed since then are clearly Dvorak's Eighth and Shostakovich's Fifth - which is fitting, since I've spent much of the year finding newer and deeper ways to appreciate them.

With four entrants in the top 15, the number seven is still "the greatest" number for a symphony.